Abstract: H14.00007 : The Leviathan and the Whirlpool Nebula

Author:

Trevor Weekes

Nearly 240 years after Galileo made his first astronomical
observations, the Third Earl of Rosse built what was to be the
world's largest optical telescope for 75 years. The so-called
Leviathan had an aperture of 1.8m and was built entirely by
workers on his estate in Birr, Ireland. In April, 1845, shortly
after the telescope was commissioned, Lord Rosse trained his
telescope on fifty-first object in Messier catalog and saw for
the first time its spiral structure. This discovery of what was
later called the Whirlpool Nebula was to dramatically change
contemporary thinking about the nature of nebulae and redirect
emphasis of the Earl's observing program. The initial
observations were immediately accepted although they were based
on hand drawn representations by the noble amateur based on his
unverified observations. Ironically this early discovery was to
be the most outstanding achievement of the Leviathan.

To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2009.APR.H14.7